Don’t gag us over welfare reform, charity leaders say

Charities which work with universal credit claimants have been banned from criticising Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary,NEIL HALL/EPA

Groups representing more than 7,000 charity leaders are demanding that the government stops forcing them to sign gagging clauses after the practice was exposed by a Times investigation.

The organisations, including Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid and Shelter, said that ministers had been using anti-advocacy contracts for a number of years that could “prevent civil society speaking out on behalf of vulnerable people”.